Arsenal ace calls injury ‘heart-breaking’

Jack Wilshere believes he can return to his former level of playing and is feeling better and better.

Arsenal‘s gifted midfielder revealed to the Guardian that his stress fracture injury, sustained in the summer of 2011, was “heart-breaking.”However, Wilshere insists he never thought at any point that he would not come back.

Wilshere has impressed since his return, though he has tired at times and was given a red card at this weekend’s Premier League defeat to Manchester United.

However, he makes it clear that he will continue training to get back to the standard he was at before his injury.

He said: “It’s difficult for any player, especially one like me. I was 19 and just breaking into the footballing world. I’d had a good season and was looking to push on. I don’t think there was a point where I didn’t think I was coming back. It was a serious injury but it wasn’t a result of a bad tackle or anything. It just happened over time. It took time to heal and I had a few set-backs but you question yourself as to whether you can come back to the level I was at before. Hopefully, I can get back to training well and get back to where I was.”

Wilshere has also insisted that the tackle that led to his dismissal from the Manchester United game was not meant intentionally, though he understands the referee’s reasoning. He said: “When you see it in slow motion, it looks like a bad tackle. But honestly I didn’t mean to go for him. I just went for the ball. When the referee sent me off, I was shocked. But seeing it again afterwards, I can see why he sent me off.”

Jack Wilshere has also urged that his team must not drop more points, saying: “We’re a bit far behind now and we really need to step it up.”